U.S. patent application number 09/823209 was filed with the patent office on 2001-11-08 for axial securing device for two components by means of a locking ring.
Invention is credited to Heyn, Steffen, Keidel, Andreas, Wirth, Alfred.
Application Number | 20010038771 09/823209 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 7637032 |
Filed Date | 2001-11-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010038771 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wirth, Alfred ; et
al. |
November 8, 2001 |
Axial securing device for two components by means of a locking
ring
Abstract
An open end of a hollow cylindrical body receives part of a
cylindrical component, where the hollow cylindrical body and the
cylindrical component each having a groove, the grooves being
aligned when the cylindrical component is in its intended final
position with respect to the hollow cylindrical body, so that a
locking ring is captured by the two grooves. The cylindrical
component works together with the hollow cylindrical body to form a
ring-shaped space, which extends from one of the two grooves toward
the open end of the hollow cylindrical body, thus offering access
for a tool to move the locking ring into its intended final
position.
Inventors: |
Wirth, Alfred; (Schweinfurt,
DE) ; Keidel, Andreas; (Zeil, DE) ; Heyn,
Steffen; (Schweinfurt, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
COHEN, PONTANI, LIEBERMAN & PAVANE
551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1210
New York
NY
10176
US
|
Family ID: |
7637032 |
Appl. No.: |
09/823209 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
403/282 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16B 21/183 20130101;
Y10T 403/7052 20150115; Y10T 403/5793 20150115; Y10T 403/4949
20150115; Y10T 403/4966 20150115; Y10T 403/557 20150115; Y10T
403/7016 20150115; F16F 9/325 20130101; Y10T 403/7051 20150115;
Y10T 403/7049 20150115 |
Class at
Publication: |
403/282 |
International
Class: |
F16B 001/00; B25G
003/28; F16G 011/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 30, 2000 |
DE |
100 15 911.7 |
Claims
We claim:
1. An axial securing device comprising a hollow cylindrical body
having an open end and an inward facing groove axially spaced from
said end, a cylindrical component which is received in said open
end of said hollow cylindrical body, said cylindrical component
having an outward facing groove which aligns with said inward
facing groove when said cylindrical component is received in said
hollow cylindrical body, a locking ring captured between said
grooves when said cylindrical component is received in said hollow
cylindrical body, and a ring-shaped space between said cylindrical
component and said hollow cylindrical body when said cylindrical
component is received in said hollow cylindrical body, said
ring-shaped space extending from one of said grooves toward said
open end, thereby providing access for a tool to move said locking
ring into captured position between said grooves.
2. An axial securing device as in claim 1 wherein said ring-shaped
space extends around the entire circumference of said cylindrical
component.
3. An axial securing device as in claim 1 further comprising said
tool, said tool comprising a ring-shaped element received in said
ring-shaped space for holding said locking ring in said captured
position.
4. An axial securing device as in claim 4 wherein said ring-shaped
element is an elastic element having a nominal diameter, when not
in place in said ring-shaped space, which is greater than the
diameter of said ring-shaped space.
5. An axial securing device as in claim 1 wherein said ring-shaped
space is formed by a diameter change section in one of said
cylindrical component and said hollow cylindrical body, said
diameter change section adjoining the groove in the respective one
of said cylindrical component and said hollow cylindrical body.
6. An axial securing device as in claim 3 wherein said ring-shaped
element has an end part which rests radially against the locking
ring, and a shoulder adjacent to said end part, said shoulder
facing the locking ring.
7. An axial securing device as in claim 5 wherein said diameter
change section comprises a conical surface adjoining said groove,
said device further comprising a tool received in said ring-shaped
space for holding said locking ring in said captured position, said
tool comprising a ring-shaped element having a lateral surface
which abuts said conical surface of said diameter change
section.
8. An axial securing device as in claim 7 wherein said lateral
surface is a conical lateral surface which conforms to the conical
lateral surface of the diameter change section.
9. An axial securing device as in claim 3 wherein said open end of
said hollow cylindrical body comprises a circumferential
ring-shaped end surface, said ring-shaped element having a collar
which abuts said end surface when said tool is received in said
ring-shaped space.
10. An axial securing device as in claim 5 wherein said diameter
change section is bounded by a shoulder in said one of said
cylindrical component and said hollow cylindrical body, said device
further comprising said tool, said tool comprising a ring-shaped
element received in said ring-shaped space for holding said locking
ring in said captured position, said ring-shaped element having a
radially facing rib which engages said shoulder.
11. An axial securing device comprising a hollow cylindrical body
having an open end and an inward facing groove axially spaced from
said end, a cylindrical component which is received in said open
end of said hollow cylindrical body, said cylindrical component
having an outward facing groove aligned with said inward facing
groove, and a reduced diameter section which extends from said
outward facing groove toward said open end, thereby forming a
ring-shaped space between said cylindrical component and said
hollow cylindrical body, and a locking ring captured between said
grooves.
12. An axial securing device as in claim 11 further comprising a
ring-shaped element received in said ring-shaped space for keeping
said locking ring captured between said grooves.
13. An axial securing device as in claim 12 wherein said reduced
diameter section comprises a conical surface extending from the
outward facing groove toward the open end, said ring-shaped
retaining element having a conical inside surface which abuts said
conical surface of said reduced diameter section.
14. An axial securing device as in claim 12 wherein said reduced
diameter section is bounded by a shoulder, said ring-shaped element
having a radially facing rib which engages said shoulder.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention pertains to an axial securing device for a
cylindrical component received in the open end of a hollow
cylindrical body, each part having a groove which aligns with the
groove of the other part to capture a locking ring between the
grooves.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,939 discloses an adjustable valve, the
receptacle of which is locked axially in place in a socket piece,
designed as a hollow cylindrical body, by a locking ring. The
receptacle has a circumferential groove, which accepts the entire
locking ring as the receptacle is pushed into the socket piece.
Once the receptacle has reached its intended final position, this
groove lines up with another groove in the socket piece. The
locking ring can then expand radially and thus assumes a diameter
which overlaps the grooves in the socket piece and in the
receptacle. Thus the receptacle is secured axially inside the
socket piece.
[0005] The problem is that it is difficult to tell from the outside
whether the locking ring has in fact assumed its intended final
position. If this assembly step is performed by hand, it is
possible to check the results and to repeat the step if necessary.
Within the scope of industrial fabrication, it is possible to check
the results of the step, but it is impossible to repeat the
assembly procedure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The object of the present invention is to improve the axial
securing device using a locking ring so that the locking ring can
be installed reliably.
[0007] In accordance with the invention, the cylindrical component
works together with the hollow cylindrical body to form a
ring-shaped space for the locking ring. This space starts from one
of the two grooves and extends toward the open end of the hollow
cylindrical body, thus providing access for a tool to move the
locking ring into its intended final position.
[0008] The advantage of this measure is that a locking ring, which
could not be inspected or accessed in any way after it had assumed
its final position, can now be installed reliably. If the locking
ring cannot assume its intended final position immediately as a
result of an unfavorable combination of tolerances of the parts to
be connected, this condition can be remedied by means of a simple
tool.
[0009] To obtain the best possible access to the locking ring, the
ring-shaped space is designed to extend all the way around. The
ring-shaped space can also be designed in the form of a pocket
extending over a certain length of arc.
[0010] Thus the tool is formed by an element in the form of a ring
or at least a part of a ring. This tool is simply pressed into the
ring-shaped space to push the locking ring into its intended final
position.
[0011] So that the tool can exert an effective installing force on
the locking ring, the ring-shaped element is elastic, and, when it
is not being used, it has a nominal diameter larger than that of
the ring-shaped space.
[0012] To form the ring-shaped space, one of the axially secured
components has a diameter change section, beginning from the
groove, the diameter changing in the direction toward the base of
the groove, so that an end part of the tool can be guided between
the base of the groove and the locking ring.
[0013] To improve the retaining effect of the locking ring, the
part of the tool which rests radially against the locking ring has
a shoulder at the end facing the open end of the hollow cylindrical
body, this shoulder representing a contact surface for the locking
ring. The locking ring thus cannot be pulled into the ring-shaped
space under load.
[0014] To facilitate the installing movement of the tool onto the
locking ring, the diameter change section has a conical surface,
which comes to rest against a lateral surface of the tool.
[0015] For the purpose of minimizing the contact pressure, at least
a certain section of the tool also has a conical lateral surface,
which conforms to the conical surface of the diameter change
section.
[0016] In a further advantageous design, the tool has a
circumferential collar, which comes to rest against an axial,
ring-shaped end surface on the hollow cylindrical body after the
tool has been inserted to the maximum extent. This prevents the
tool from being pushed into the ring-shaped space beyond a
reasonable distance.
[0017] The tool also has at least one radially oriented rib, which
is supported axially against a contact surface on the cylindrical
component or on the hollow cylindrical body. This rib serves as a
guide, which signals that the tool has been pushed far enough into
the ring-shaped space to guarantee that the locking ring has
reliably assumed its final position.
[0018] The tool can also be considered a "lost" part, which remains
in the ring-shaped space after assembly. The advantage of this
measure is that the tool cannot be removed by tinkerers from the
ring-shaped space without damage and thus serves as a safety device
to protect against unwanted manipulation of the axial securing
device.
[0019] Other objects and features of the present invention will
become apparent from the following detailed description considered
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be
understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for
purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of
the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended
claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not
necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated,
they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures
and procedures described herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 shows a cross section through two components
connected by an axial securing device;
[0021] FIG. 2 shows the locking ring;
[0022] FIG. 3 shows a section of FIG. 3 without the tool;
[0023] FIG. 4 is the same as FIG. 3 but with the tool; and
[0024] FIG. 5 shows the tool as an individual part.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0025] FIG. 1 shows the cylindrical component 1. In this case, the
component is a receptacle for a valve, but the application of the
invention is in no way limited to this application. This receptacle
is designed to be inserted into a hollow cylindrical body 3. A
locking ring 5 has the job of locking the two cylindrical
components together axially. In FIG. 2, the locking ring is shown
as an individual part, so that the bent ends 5a provided to
facilitate installation can be seen more clearly. The bent ends can
be squeezed together with simple pliers, so that the locking ring
can be inserted into a groove 7 in the cylindrical component 1.
Then the cylindrical component with the compressed locking ring 5
is guided into the open end of the hollow cylindrical body, so that
the locking ring can now lock itself into the groove 9 in the
hollow cylindrical body.
[0026] As can be seen in FIG. 3, which shows a part of FIG. 1, a
circumferential ring-shaped space 13 is created by a diameter
change section 11, which in the present case represents a reduced
diameter section of the cylindrical component 1. This space
provides a clear view of the locking ring 5 and gives access to it.
The diameter reduction extends from the groove 7 toward the free
end of the hollow cylindrical body 3. A conical surface 15 expands
the ring-shaped space 13 radially inward from the section 11 to the
groove 7, so that the inside diameter of the locking ring 5 is
accessible.
[0027] FIG. 4 shows the part according to FIG. 1 with a tool 17,
which has been introduced into the ring-shaped space 13. The tool
is a ring-shaped element according to FIG. 5, which preferably
consists of plastic. The ring-shaped element 17 can be limited to a
certain length of arc, in which case the ring-shaped space can then
be designed as only a pocket. Before assembly, the ring-shaped
element has a nominal diameter which is larger than the nominal
diameter of the ring-shaped space 13, so that the ring-shaped
element in FIG. 4 is under pretension acting radially outward. The
ring-shaped element 17 consists essentially of an end part 19
extending between the base 7a of the groove 7 and the locking ring,
so that the part 19 acts in the radial direction on the locking
ring 5. This is followed by an intermediate section with a conical
inside surface 21, which is itself followed by a circumferential
collar 23.
[0028] The end part 19, which rests radially against the locking
ring 5, has a shoulder 25 facing the open end of the hollow
cylindrical body 3; this shoulder can serve as a contact surface
for the locking ring. The conical surface 15 of the reduced
diameter section 11 in the ring-shaped space 13 and the conical
inside surface 21 of the ring-shaped element 17 ensure that the
ring-shaped element will expand radially outward to move the
locking ring 5 into the intended final position. The collar 23,
provided radially on the outside, represents an insertion boundary
for the ring-shaped element 17 in the direction toward the
ring-shaped space 13, in that the collar 23 abuts a circumferential
ring-shaped end surface 27 of the hollow cylindrical body 3. At
least one radially inward-directed rib 29 on the ring-shaped
element 17 comes to rest against a shoulder 31 bounding the reduced
diameter section 11 of the cylindrical component 1 when the
intended minimum installation depth of the ring-shaped element has
been reached. In this condition, the ring-shaped element 17 is
clamped between the locking ring 5, the conical surface 15, and the
shoulder 31. The ring-shaped element remains in the ring-shaped
space and serves, among other things, to foil any unwanted attempts
by tinkerers to open the device.
[0029] The ring-shaped element can also be used as a normal tool
and be removed from the ring-shaped space after the locking ring 5
has been successfully installed.
[0030] Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out
fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a
preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various
omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of
the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by
those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the
invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all
combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform
substantially the same function in substantially the same way to
achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention.
Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements
and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any
disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated
in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment
as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention,
therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the
claims appended hereto.
* * * * *